People give me horrified looks when I walk through the grass on, for example, the university where I teach, in Guangzhou.  I can't understand that.  When I was in college, we all sat around on the lawns, which were actually famous for just that.  Even when I lived in the proper New England town of Newport, Rhode Island, the two parks were always littered with people sitting on the lawns, reading, eating, drinking, and talking.

What is funny, though, is when I go to some of the local parks, there are people sitting in groups, on the lawn, just as I am used to it being.  Then, periodically, a guard tours the garden or park, he tells all of the people to get off the lawn.  They grudgingly comply, and, then, after the guard is out of sight, they go back to their places on the lawn.